Followers

March 29, 2010

Should Canada have Free Basic Dental Care?

CANADA/HEALTH - What did Pharoah Amenhotep III, Queen Elizabeth I of England and John Glascock of the rock band Jethro Tull all have in common?

They all died from bad teeth.

Yet Canada, with its incredible free health care system, does not yet have free dental care for Canadian citizens.

Thus unless you have a dental plan at the place you work, getting dental care is going to be pretty expensive and simply not possible for many impoverished Canadians.

Canada does have free basic dental care for children and seniors, but adults are vastly ignored by the system. (Native Canadians also get free basic dental care, as do wards of the state.)

There are some rare dentists who will give free dental care to people in need, including immigrants or the children of immigrants. If you're looking for a Toronto dentist you can try calling the Toronto Academy of Dentistry at 416-967-5649.

However in my experience barter isn't really an effective way of trading services. A better solution is to set aside a budget for your dental needs and whenever you have enough schedule a visit to the dentist. In theory people are supposed to visit the dentist at least twice a year... so depending on your financial situation this could be pretty hard to do.

However if free basic dental care was available from the government this wouldn't be an issue. I recommend contacting your local Canadian MPs or the Health Minister and harassing them on the issue. If enough Canadians complain and make it an issue the government might agree in an effort to prove their serious about improving public health and garner votes.